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Ganishka
Emperor Ganishka (ガニシュカ Ganishuka) was the head of the Kushan Nation. He was also an Apostle, but one who is against the God Hand rather than their follower compared to the others. Appearance Ganishka was a large built man with thick beard and mustache. He wears the Royal sherwani with a turban. While his eyes were originally normal when he was human, they changed to light blue irides with blackened sclerae and his mouth became wider and filled with sharp teeth. Personality Ganishka was a merciless king who killed countless people in-order to secure his life and throne. While he acted fearless, he was at a constant state of fear and mistrust from those around him. This caused Ganishka to create a belief that only fear could ensure his survival. Ganishka was shown to be very arrogant, as seen when he stated why he would not follow Griffith. When he met and discovered a branded Guts, he offered to join forces to defeat Griffith. He admitted that he thought favorably of those who possessed enough strong hate to survive the inescapable fear and despair of the endless night of spiritual torture. However, when Guts rejected his offer, he didn't second guess his decision to try and kill him. Abilities As an Apostle who tapped deeper into the Astral plane, Ganishka can manipulate water and air spirits to create fog-like construct bodies. In some cases, Ganishka can astral project himself to another location to create his Apostle form from the elements themselves. In this state, Ganishka is capable of shooting lightning and employed his dark magic such as controlling his demon armies. Though Ganishka cannot be harmed by conventional means, both Schierke and Griffith pointed out flaws in his form: Schierke revealing a weakpoint between the apostle's eyes where his spiritual body is located while Griffith mentioned that Ganishka cannot maintain his apostle form on a windy day without risking himself being scattered by the wind. Second Transformation After his stalemate with Griffith, Ganishka decides to enter the Man-Made Behelit he commissioned for creating his Daka to transcend into a form equal to Griffith in power. This transformation that Ganishka undergoes by tapping in the depths of the Astral Plane itself required him to use all his forces within Windham's walls as sacrificial offerings with only Daiba surviving through a barrier as he witnesses his lord's rebirth with the entire city destroyed in the process once dawn approaches. In this state, referred by Daiba and the other Kushan to be their god "Shiva" incarnate, Ganishka becomes a giant taller than Midland's mountains with whip-like arms and a mound of multiple heads on his shoulders that all breath fire. Despite his power, Ganishka loses all sense of rational thinking and self, unable to register the fact that he is now a huge entity and sees everyone around him as insects. It can be observed that his mental state deteriorates as he stays in this form. At first he is able to recognize Daiba. But then he is disoriented and starts to get lost in his own power and loses his sense of perception. He crushes his army under his footsteps and considers the gore thus produced as "Crimson Flowers" while sired familiars emerge from the corpses' remains. History Past Long ago, Ganishka was born the son of the ruler of Kushan yet his mother favoured his younger brother and sought to poison him. But Ganishka survived and took his revenge by killing his own brother, forcing their mother to commit suicide out of grief soon after. Though he has political rivals, Ganishka managed to properly maneuver his way through the dangers as he grew into an adult. When Ganishka met the emperor in person, he noted the man's eyes were full of fear and suspicion before arranging the emperor's death and killing the assassin he hired to cover his tracks. Upon taking the throne, Ganishka resolved the best way to remain on the throne is through fear and conquest, his campaigns not leaving him time to spend with his family whom he secretly feared. Years later as he began to envision himself as the rightful ruler of the entire world, Ganishka attended a banquet in his honour before learning it was an assassination set up by his own son. Being poisoned and then stabbed numerous times by the spears of the surrounding guards, Ganishka lived long enough to reach an oddly-shaped stone that was given to him by Daiba. Ganishka activates the Behelit, sacrificing his son to be reborn an Apostle so he would never again feel pain inflicted him by other humans. But despite being an Apostle, rather than be their follower like the others, Ganishka instead acts against the God Hand for his own whims. During the plague that has struck Midland, Ganishka takes over Windham as part of his campaign to conquer the country while sending Silat to find and capture Griffith. Falcon of the Millenium Empire Trivia *Emperor Ganishka is based on Kanishka, who was a king of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia, from 127 AD until 151 AD. Category:Apostle Category:Male Category:Dead Characters Category:Antagonists Category:Kushan